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Posted on 08/05/2005 4:12:44 AM PDT by visagoth
Russian Mini-Submarine Stuck on Sea Floor
Aug 5, 6:57 AM (ET)
By YEVGENY KULKOV
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) - A Russian mini-submarine with seven sailors aboard snagged on a fishing net and was stuck on the sea floor off Russia's Pacific Coast, and a Navy spokesman said the seamen had enough air to survive one more day.
Navy authorities scrambled to figure out how to raise the vessel from a depth of some 625 feet. The Interfax news service said Russia's Pacific Fleet commander was in talks with U.S. Navy officials over how the United States might help.
"There is air remaining on the underwater apparatus for a day - one day," Capt. Igor Dygalo said on state-run Rossiya television.
"The operation continues. We have a day, and intensive, active measures will be taken to rescue the AS-28 vessel and the people aboard," he said.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Alexander Kosolapov said contact had been made with the sailors, who were not hurt, and that authorities were preparing to send down a similar vessel to assess the situation.
The sub's propeller became entangled in a fishing net Thursday, trapping the craft, Dygalo said.
The mini-sub, called an AS-28, was too deep to allow the sailors to swim to the surface on their own or for divers to reach it, officials said.
Dygalo's statement about the amount of air remaining, which he said came after "all the information was checked," followed conflicting statements from officials who said there was enough air for anything from one to five days. The range of estimates may have come because there were seven people aboard the vessel; the crafts usually carry three.
The accident occurred early Thursday after the mini-submarine was launched from a rescue ship during a combat training exercise, Kosolapov said.
Kosolapov said nine warships were in the area to aid the rescue operation.
Officials said the accident occurred in Beryozovaya Bay, approximately 100 miles south of Kamchatka's capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
The accident occurred almost exactly five years after the nuclear submarine Kursk sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea after explosions on board, killing all 118 seamen aboard in a painful blow to the Russian navy. Some of the Kursk's sailors survived for hours after the accident as oxygen ran out, and Russian authorities came under sharp criticism for their handling of the crisis.
The same type of vessel that is now stuck, called a Priz, was used in the rescue efforts that followed the Kursk disaster, Interfax reported.
The AS-28, which looks like a small submarine, was built in 1989. They are about 44 feet long and 19 feet high and can dive to depths of 1,640 feet.
Russian news agencies reported that Japan decided to send four ships in a response to a request for help. A Japanese Marine Self Defense Force spokesman, Mitsyasu Yokoe, said the press service had no information on such a dispatch and could not comment.
Just the mention of her did the trick.
I've been gone most of the day, trying to catch up now... I think you are right, and this IS the Russian DSRV.
Dear Lord, Please help these men be rescued, if it be Thy Will. In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
Your feelings re Alec Baldwin (puke, choke, hack)are mine as well!!!
And it is really too bad because he did a great job as Jack Ryan in that movie.
I agree. It's too bad these actors have to wave their politics around so much.
I thought CGEB turned out to be a middle-aged man, just messing with freepers. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Has anyone heard an update on the sub in the last hour?
Thanks for the link, I just read about the Russians trying to 'blow' the anchor off the sub... yikes.... aim very carefully.
Arent nets designed to be hauled in?
I read this AM that the Russkies had dragged the boat 100 yds closer to shore, but the work was progressing to slowly.
If they have lines on the boat I say PULL MAN!
Perhaps they are concerned with damage to the pressure hull.
Oh, and get this...The AP reports that they are snagged on an underwater "antenna" L0L WTF? ELF array?
Physics, obviously, is not your strong suit.
The Russians made it out. YEAH!
Have a good day.
Yeah, I am pretty sure they gave me that mechanical engineering degree just for showing up. Good thing I don't engineer anything important for a living, like say, airplanes.
Good thing, yes.
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